Big Brother, Little Sister: The Pack Sticks Together
by Myra109
Summary: (Benji, 2018) After the events of Chasing Cars, let's just say Carter and Frankie's friends and mother aren't exactly happy with the way Joanna and her goons treated the siblings. Incest, Carter/Frankie. (Read Big Brother, Little Sister: Chasing Cars first)


_Hello, everyone! Here's the next Carter and Frankie story. I hope you like it. Not much romance in this one, but a lot of friendship. I created the character Carly only a few weeks ago, but I already need more of her in my life, so she is the main character in this one._

_This is a prompt from Godzilla183._

_WARNINGS: INCEST AND MENTIONS OF BULLYING_

**Disclaimer: I do not own the movie Benji, 2018 or the characters or anything you recognize. I only own my OCs, including but not limited to: Carly Torrents, Mr. Rottweiler, and Joanna Wheeler, who all play active roles in this story.**

* * *

Carly was smart. Despite only being in third grade, she was more intelligent than a lot of the older students. Carly was book smart and school smart, but above all of that, she was also observant, and that's why she could spot hidden emotions from a mile away, especially when she knew the person who was trying to hide the aforementioned feelings well.

Carly liked to think that she knew Carter and Frankie better than almost anyone else. She didn't know everything about them. They were good friends, and they had told her things they had never told anyone else, like when their relationship began or how their mother hadn't originally supported their relationship, but she didn't know everything. She didn't know how Johnathon Hughes, their father, had died. She didn't know who Lyle or Mongrel were; Carter and Frankie mentioned them from time to time, but when she asked, they only said a family friend and left it at that. She didn't know why they acted weird whenever certain news reports came on TV; once, the news was doing a segment on two kidnapped children named Harley and Eliza, and Carter and Frankie had exchanged this weird look before Carter had begun doing Frankie's hair, which Carly knew he often did whenever the two of them were nervous or agitated or sad. Heck, she didn't even know how they had met their dog, and the one time they had asked, they simply said he was a stray dog that had followed them home one day and didn't elaborate beyond that.

But she did know more about them than most people. She knew when they were upset or scared. She knew when they were thinking about each other because they had those _Can You Feel The Love Tonight?_ smiles, as Carly called them, whenever they looked at or even thought about one another. She knew how strong they were. She saw how people tried to break them down everyday, but they kept walking with their heads held high.

She also knew that even though they tried to act so undaunted by the bullying and cruelty they faced everyday, they were a little broken by it. Sometimes, she could see the subtle hunch of their shoulders, as if they were holding the weight of the world and it was finally starting to take its toll on them. She could see the sadness in their eyes, the way Frankie bit her lip to hold back tears, the way Carter would scratch his skin raw from nerves or even break out into hives at times due to fear.

They were scared to go to school, and Carly suspected that the only reason they did was because they did have friends now, friends who would stand by them.

But occasionally, that fear, that sadness… it got to be too much, and they would draw into themselves, as if they were trying to distance themselves from their friends to keep Carly and the others safe because they knew that if Carly and their friends continued to stand up for them, it wouldn't be long before the bullying turned on them.

At times like these, Carter and Frankie needed to be reminded that Carly and the others would stand by them, no matter what. If they would get bullied, so be it. If they would become social pariahs, so be it. If they were labeled as outcasts and weirdos for hanging out with the school freaks, so be it. Because nobody makes it alone. Carter and Frankie had each other, but even _two_ people against the world isn't much.

The lone wolf dies off, and nobody knows they were even there, but the pack survives. The pack defends each other. The pack protects each other. Lone wolfs are picked off, but people know better than to mess with a pack. The pack is loyal. The pack is family, and family means no one is left behind or forgotten, no matter what.

Sometimes, Carter and Frankie forgot that, and that meant Carly and the pack needed to remind them.

* * *

School had ended not fifteen minutes ago, and a few people had given them some weird looks when twenty-six kids walked out of the school in a tight group, almost like soldiers in formation.

Leaning against the wall was Joanna and a few of her cronies. Carly felt heat erupt in her body at the sight of the girl who had hurt her friends.

Carter and Frankie had tried to hide the events of Valentine's Day, 2019 from them, but by mid afternoon on February 15th, news of the incident had reached the ears of almost every kid in the school, including those of Carter and Frankie's friends. In a school where gossip was like oxygen to most of the students, it was inevitable that Carly and the others would find out. Even if they hadn't, this conversation was a long time coming.

Joanna glanced up as Carly came to a stop in front of them, and Carly watched as her dark, almond shaped eyes glanced over Carly's shoulder at her back up.

"Well, if it isn't the little nerd," Joanna sneered, bending down to Carly's height in a mocking way. "And the posse. What? Too afraid to face me yourself?"

"No," Carly smirked back. "They just didn't want to miss this."

Joanna straightened, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes at Carly. "Where's Thing 1 and Thing 2?"

Carly raised an eyebrow. "You mean Carter and Frankie? Calling them Thing 1 and Thing 2 is big talk for the girl who's followed around by lap dogs," Carly pointed out, nodding to Joanna's 'friends.' More like fans.

Was it a low blow? Yes. Necessary and true? Definitely.

"That's _big talk_ for a little girl," Joanna cackled, almost like a super villain in those Disney movies, which I guess was an accurate comparison. Joanna may look pretty, but then again, so was Vanessa in the Little Mermaid. Vanessa was still Ursula, and Joanna still had an ugly monster inside of her, no matter how much their pretty faces tried to hide it. Villains didn't all look a certain way. The cruelest people got away with their cruelty because no one suspected them. "Why don't you go back to the playground and let the big kids handle this?"

"I may be small, but I'm twice the person you'll ever be. Only the weak pick on others. They know how weak they really are, so they make themselves look bigger and more vicious to ward off people," Carly said, "And honestly, I feel kind of bad for you."

Joanna spluttered. "Why would you feel bad for me? I have everything."

Carly chuckled, humorlessly. "Everything but a heart."

Carly stalked towards Joanna, and Joanna couldn't resist the instinct to back away until she hit the wall. She was cornered.

"Joanna, I don't want to fight. I don't believe violence solves anything, but if you continue bullying Carter and Frankie, we will go to the ends of the earth to protect them. What do you think will happen if you don't back off? When the time comes for us to defend them, the people standing behind me? We'll stick together. These little followers you call friends? They'll decide standing by the girl who never gave them any respect isn't worth staring down a pack of loyal wolves, and they'll turn tail and run. The thing is… when that happens, I won't call them cowards. I'll call them smart. You, on the other hand, would be considered pretty stupid to anger the pack. Nobody is idiotic enough to stare down a pack of wolves alone. Except for maybe you."

Carly stared at Joanna, who had traces of fear in the depths of her eyes, before turning on her heel, and with that, the group of friends, the family, walked away.

Joanna whipped her head around in search of a teacher, and the only adult standing in the school yard was the principal.

"Mr. Rottweiler, did you hear what Carly just said to me?" Joanna whined.

Mr. Rottweiler smiled, innocently. "I didn't hear a thing."

Joanna gasped like a fish.

"Oh, and Joanna?" Mr. Rottweiler continued. "I've called your parents. You're suspended for a week for bullying, as are Stanley, Patrick, and Parker. Effective immediately."

"But Mr. Rottweiler-"

"Do you want me to make it two weeks? Because I'd be more than happy to do so."

Joanna shut up pretty quickly.

"That's what I thought."

Nobody noticed Whitney Hughes standing by her car with a smile on her face and her two shocked children sitting in the back seat, having seen the whole altercation.

* * *

**The Hughes Household**

**Carter and Frankie's Room**

**7: 01 PM**

"You didn't have to do that."

Carly glanced up from where she was lying on her stomach across the rug in Carter and Frankie's room, her pencil freezing mid twirl in her fingers as she looked up from her workbook, her concentration turning to confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked Frankie, who had been the one to speak.

"We saw you. With Joanna," Carter, who was sitting cross legged near her, clarified.

"You didn't have to do that," Frankie repeated as she rested her chin on one of her hands from where she was lying on her stomach across from Carly, her elbows on the floor and propping up her upper body. Her other hand was holding Carter's.

Carly laughed, surprising the siblings. "Of course I did. We're your friends. If someone was hurting me- and yes, Joanna was hurting you. She rarely laid a finger on you, but words can hurt more than fists- could you honestly say that you wouldn't do the same thing?"

Neither of the siblings replied.

"That's what I thought. Carter, Frankie, we're not just friends. We're family, and family protects each other. Always."

From that day on, Carter and Frankie never doubted the loyalty of their friends because those words, the ones Carly spoke to them just after 7 pm on that day in February… they weren't just words. They were a promise, and Carly knew how seriously the boyfriend and girlfriend took promises.

* * *

_A lot of wolf references. I did not go into this story with wolf references in mind, but then again, I usually don't have anything in mind when I go into a story. I just have a central idea before jumping in, and I just let it happen on its own with no plan whatsoever. Oh, and a Lilo and Stitch reference! Can't go wrong with one of those._

_Note: when it mentioned the news report towards the beginning of the story, hearing about a kidnapping was a trigger for Carter and Frankie due to PTSD from their own kidnapping._

_Anyway, all reviews are amazing; constructive criticism is appreciated; and all flames will be ignored and reported if necessary. Be kind!_

_Thank you for reading! I hope you all have a fantastic day._


End file.
